NEW YORK RED BULLS MEDIA CONFERENCE

April 16, 2022

Gerhard Struber

Press Conference

New York Red Bulls 0, FC Dallas 0

GERHARD STRUBER: Hello, yeah, I think we expect today a win. And especially I think after this game and when I watched my boys today, what we invest in all four phases in the game, this means transition in both directions. This means our build-up from the first until the last, attacking third. I think my boys create the chop what we want.

Also impressing, I think we have 85 minutes control and also domination in the game but at the same time we realize the chances what we want but we don't score. This is at the moment the missing link after this game that we are we are in best moments, not always ready, not always ready to score and this makes in the end only a draw. This was not our expectation.

But how we create today our game, how we produce the chances, I think this makes me happy. This makes the boys happy but on the same team, no one can live at home with a performance like that with one point. Yeah, this is in the end I think the disappointment on this day our result but we work, we train hard, welcome out of this situation. But I think for that we need a clear mindset, and boys, they have trust and belief in ourselves that we come back on the street of the winner also at home.

Q. Frustrating with the draw, but you said the team created the chances that you guys wanted in this game and I was curious if there were any adjustments you made to the team, obviously Patryk Kamala started from the bench and Fletcher got a start. Curious what you saw and the nature of the chances created today.

GERHARD STRUBER: Yeah, I think that we are in these moments, I can remember, I think first chance, first half, Fletcher with I think the first minute, with top cross eyeball from John door chin check and he can I think this would be one normally in the first minute.

And second half, I can't remember first minute completely alone with one with the goalkeeper, and in these moments, I think we need a little bit more balance and also that we are not surprised in these moments; that we realize chances so quick on a level like that, and sometimes I have the feeling that the boys, thinking, oh, when we don't use this chance, maybe the next chance will come in the next minute.

I laughed when my boys rally against the ball and we win that and we come in transitions but we have in these moments a little bit clearer and also we have to take the responsibility in this moment. I think in my side it's more a duty to score and I think this is the only one what I can say today. My boys, otherwise they show me in many, many aspects in this direction what I want, a very good game, we controlled many things, we dominated against the opponent, they stayed very deep in the block, and also in possession, I think we have also we create chances in possession and I think this is also a new one in our style of play that we are also in possession better and better.

Yeah, I think we improve many things but in the end we are professional soccer team and we have to realize points, especially at home, and this makes today my boys and my coaching team and me unhappy.

Q. You said earlier your team dominated the game right from the beginning, and yet it ends in a draw. I guess we can't say what went right but can you pinpoint what went wrong going into the final third? Was it just not enough clinical finishing or was it just simply too much pace stopping shots? From what I see, I see a team that it was hungry, they were fighting right from the beginning, but it just didn't happen with the final; it did everything but score. What do you tell your boys after a night like this?

GERHARD STRUBER: That we stay cool. I think that's it. I think we cannot over thinking, yeah. I think sport, soccer, moments that you score, you have to feel freedom. You have to feel also in moments like that always in the right balance, yeah, that you have a big goal to finish that with clinical behavior.

But on the same team, you must be ready in the brain with a good balance and you also need the confidence and the conviction in these moments. This is also I think maybe a little bit the context over the whole story that right now my strikers, also the boys were coming and they are taking moments, maybe they have a little bit overload in the brain, and for my side to score goals is not a special one. It is only a part in a game what we have to do.

I think there are maybe one or other player thinking to score a goal is a special one, and right now it's more that we give also the level to score, the right -- the right position, yeah, and not that we make the situation bigger and bigger.

I think right now we are on the table, also a team with a very good goal difference. We scored away a lot of goals. At home is at the moment not everything sexy but I can tell you the way what we go right now is absolutely the right one, and the goals will come. No one can stop that, yeah, especially when you play on a level like that.

And I think we invest a lot today. In the end, it's always for a group a disappointed, a frustration feeling when you invest so much and in the end you stay with one point in the end in the dressing room together.

But this is also sometimes sport and you have to grow up, the resilience one more time to be ready in the next game and that's it, and work hard between. This is our situation and not much more.

Q. You mentioned Fletcher, a player that's had a lot of experience overseas and playing at the top levels of England, whether it be in the Premiere League or the Championship, and you mentioned how much you guys dominated the game today. Where did you think he fit into that and what were you impressed most with about how the way he played?

GERHARD STRUBER: I think also with Ashley Fletcher, we have today some good moments. I think we don't forget he has one and a half year not so much games, especially from the starter situation. This is the reality. On the same team, I have trust he will grow the next time. He is in the next few weeks a very, very important player for us.

But we have to give him also a little bit of time that he can grow. He realized our way of football and he realized also our intensity in our game. He has also today some good moments, and he gives me a good feeling and a good hope that he is in the near future a very important player for us.

But also not he; my trust is in Patryk Kamala and also Omir. They have worked so hard in so many directions, and the luck will come. And then I think all the situations go a little bit easier. Yeah, this is not always an easy program for strikers but the most important thing is that they feel my trust and my trust is not artificial. My trust is full of power and with a big conviction for my strikers.

But we have I think sometimes phases like that and you have to live with that. I can also say when you look in top leagues in the world, especially in Europe, you see also there top teams, they have sometimes problem to score. Why we have not the situation like that, we work for that, we realize that my strikers are also not so happy at the moment with the situation.

But we will change that, and I have a big trust and a big belief that we will do it in the near future.

Q. You spoke about trust in players like Patryk Kamala, but from last year to this year, the way the numbers in the games are showing, why do you have that trust at this point? Why is there that trust when at the moment the biggest problem for this team is the fact that goals are not coming, and especially from the striker position? Why is that trust there when the numbers in the games are just not bearing out?

GERHARD STRUBER: Yeah, I think I have the players every day with me, and I can see also my strikers score in the training and my strikers, they score also I think in the away games in a successful way, and this is not only on Patryk Kamala or on Ashley Fletcher or on Omir Fernandez. And he show us -- and Omir Fernandez, they show us in the last time, they have the ability for that.

But they gave to handle a little bit more the situation with the pressure on the shoulder. This is a very young group and we cannot always expect from so young players, they can handle every game they -- the pressure on the shoulder.

And I think also in this direction, we have to be -- bring the right patience, and also, I have to trust in players. I work so many times with young players and top-level players, and I think sometimes players have moments that something go wrong, especially in a sensitive situation like score goals. And in this direction, my trust is unstoppable. I will help them. This is my big duty and maybe also my big advantage that I see always the positive things and what they can do and not what they don't do.

Q. Looking ahead to the midweek Cup, you're playing a strong team, bringing more youth or young kids to the squad? How do you plan for that?

GERHARD STRUBER: It's very quick after this game that I look forward. But of course, it's also on Wednesday for us a very important game and we have absolutely no time for some experiments. I think we have to bring the best players on the field. The Open Cup is also for us an interesting challenge and in the end a big goal, and I think in this direction, I will bring these players on the field. They deserve that, and that's it.

Q. Based on what you've seen, do you think the pressure is starting to build as each home game passes without a win?

GERHARD STRUBER: One more time, please. I cannot follow you now.

Q. Based on what you've seen, do you think after each home game the pressure is building to get a win for the home fans?

GERHARD STRUBER: Yes, of course, I think the pressure will grow, I mean, we don't win. I think in this direction, we make the pressure for ourselves bigger and bigger.

But I think on this time, they need me and the coaching team on his side and I have so a big belief in so many directions in my team, and so a big trust; I think would be a completely different situation when we have a lot of problems to create something or we have a lot of problems that we have no organization on the field. This would be a bigger problem.

But right now, I think we are very close on this point that we change that. For me, it's the most important thing that my boys train hard, believe in ourselves, and change that. I think we have the ability. This is 100 percent clear.

Q. Just to follow up on the Open Cup question, since Hartford is a team that you guys don't play regularly, since they are from the USL Championship, is there going to be some discussions with New York Red Bulls 2 to maybe get a little bit more of an understanding of how they work tactically? Are you going to be working with that coaching staff to dissect film better?

GERHARD STRUBER: Yeah, I think we have always a little bit exchange with the second team coach Ibrahim Sekagya is also involved in my coaching team, and we have always exchange, and I think with Gary Lewis, I have a very good exchange and yeah, they help us in these moments of course.

But at the same time, I have analyzed this team and we make the same setup what we did in the last games in our MLS competition. We make no experience, no absolutely not, it's not the time for that. We have to win this game on Wednesday and for that we have the professional preparation in every direction.